Yes, this (and watching History Channel's "Revolution" episode on the Battles of Lexington and Concord just now) has me feeling Patriotic this morning.

Let Philadelphia have its Eagles and its Liberty bell (and Miami and have its Heat and its...beach), not of it would be there if it weren't for the original handful of Boston Patriots who displayed iron b*lls when it mattered most and started us on the road to Independence.

Emerson, with a much better grasp for words than me, said it much better:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

So, yes, beyond all the justified American pride these stories and images inspire, it's also one more reason to forever cheer for our (football) Patriots: namely, we have a cool name that actually means something.

Yes, this (and watching History Channel's "Revolution" episode on the Battles of Lexington + Concord just now) has me feeling Patriotic this morning.

Let Philadelphia have its Eagles and its Liberty bell (and Miami and have its Heat and its...beach)

None of it would be there if it weren't for the original handful of Boston Patriots who displayed iron b*lls when it mattered most and started us on the road to Independence.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, with a much better grasp for words than me, said it much better:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

So, yes, beyond all the justified American pride these stories and images inspire, it's also one more reason to forever cheer for our (football) Patriots: namely, we have a cool name that actually means something.

I find myself uncharacteristically hesitant to let it flow on this particular subject, because, in the words of the magnificent Orson Welles, playing Professor Charles Rankin in The Stranger:

I have a way of making enemies when I'm on that Subject.

​

But there are some Fundamental Truths that the Mists of History have quietly erased from the memories of all but a very few...Truths that I feel a passionate ~ even desperate ~ imperative to fight to keep alive:

1 ~ The other 44 States owe an astonishingly enormous debt to New EngLand.

2 ~ And we of New EngLand own an equally astonishing and utterly incomparable Legacy...and Responsibility.

5 ~ "Yankee" ~ look it up if you don't believe me, Brothers and Sisters!! ~ is a term whose origins ~ like many terms ~ are shrouded in the Mists of History...But by the time it came into prevalent use ~ in the 18th Century ~ there was absolutely no question to whom it referred:

1 ~ I would not presume to change anyone's language ~ I only explain my own!!

2 ~ It is only because of New EngLand's dominance of America's History and Character that "Yankee" has come to be applied ~ incorrectly ~ to ALL Americans.

3 ~ The offensive and pathetic choice of the New York Nine to change their name to "Yankees" in 1913 ~ an Abomination of a Year, if ever there was one ~ can only be described as the manifestation of an acute case of Yankee Envy: They wanted to be us so badly that they named themselves after us!!

But they will never beYankees, even should they claim that name for another 1000 years!!

And I'll never stop defending my right ~ our right ~ to that Sacred Heritage even if I'm the last Man in the Galaxy who claims the Privilege...and the Responsibility...of being a Yankee to be ours...and ours, alone.

Can't go out in the sunshine,so I spent the day watching all the episodes of HBO's John Adams...made me feel so proud to have been born here...My sig says"Fortune favors the Bold" and it seems most appropriate for "those" new england patriots:americaflag:

Can't go out in the sunshine,so I spent the day watching all the episodes of HBO's John Adams...made me feel so proud to have been born here...My sig says"Fortune favors the Bold" and it seems most appropriate for "those" new england patriots:americaflag:

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Well Done!! :rocker:

That was one'f the few such shows that I made a point to watch when it first came out...

I would LOVE to see a series of those things, focused on the semi-famous guys who get an OCEAN less Credit for The Miracle of The American Revolution than they so richly deserve:

Sam Adams ~ My personal GOD: This ferocious yet eloquent Rabble Rouser was the most vitally incendiary Leader in inciting ~ and organizing ~ the entire Region of New EngLand to rise up against Britain's highhanded #$%&ery!!

Nathanael Greene ~ If it wasn't for him, we lose the Revolutionary War ~ It is that simple. His list of Exploits is endless, but here was his Greatest: He took command of the wretched remnants of the Southern Army in very late 1780, when Cornwallis had annihilated all organized resistance south of Valley Forge and was on the brink of joining forces with the British Northern Army to crush Washington's forces and end the War...Yet in October 1781, it was Cornwallis who surrendered his entire Army, effectively ending the war. This mind-boggling Reversal of Fortune had many authors, and countless acts of Heroism and Greatness...But the unmistakably dominant Force in this stunning and shockingly violent Turn of the Tide was General Nathanael Greene, Super Patriot.

Daniel Morgan. General Greene had countless Auxiliaries ~ Military and otherwise ~ who performed heroically during those astonishing 12 months when Certain Defeat was magically ~ miraculously ~ transformed into Certain Victory...But none more than General Daniel Morgan, whose stunning Genius at The Battle of CowpensannihilatedBanastre Tarleton's force, and Turned The Tide.

Patrick Henry.

Henry Knox.

The list of Heroes is endless.

I would love to see stories about these guys...and, indeed, about the thousands of Soldiers and Auxiliaries and their Families, and what they all went through...in order to deliver us this magnificent Gift.